Summers in Goa have always brought about the joy of indulging in some seasonal delights, one being the juicy cashews. Honouring the rich legacy of cashews and attempting to empower cashew farmers, Season 2 of Cashew Fest Goa 2024 kicked off on Friday evening in Panjim.
Organised by the Goa Forest Development Corporation on the Dayanand Bandodkar Ground, Campal, Panjim, the festival is hosting 50-plus exhibitors who are promoting local cashew products.
Attracting crowds with performances are top artistes including Dhvani Bhanushali, Akhil Sachdeva, Ash King, DJ Afroz, DJ Azim, Mark Revlon, True Blue and others.
Saturday and Sunday will also feature technical sessions for those interested in cashew cultivation, processing, and the cashew industry in general.
"Last year, although we didn’t have a stall, just being part of the panel discussion at the festival gave our just-launched brand a lot of reach," said Tulika Sawardekar.
Sawardekar is co-owner of Goenchi Feni, which is crafted on a farm and the recipe is closely-guarded family one. Through their brand, she aims to place feni on the global platform and give it the recognition it deserves.
Referring to the reduction in cashew production this year, Sawardekar explains how the season was delayed by roughly 20 days.
“The only way forward, something that we’re doing, is planting more trees on our farm. I see the price of cashew feni going up and definitely feel it’s the right time to start the movement of its premiumisation."
Even as his stall was being set up, bottles of feni lined the counter as Ashok Malkarnekar greeted all those who came by with a smile.
Speaking about the festival, Malkarnekar said, “For us as first timers it’s a great opportunity to get some visibility, for people to get to know us. We’re still new in the market, so it's good to connect with people and give them a chance to taste our spiced feni which is our flagship product.”
Primarily being farmers, closely tied to the land and growing cashew and making feni for three generations, Malkarnekar feels that the year hasn’t been great for cashew production. “It could be due to other reasons, but, yes, climate change is one possible cause why the yields aren't that great.”
Although Malkarnekar has been distilling urrak and their regular unlabelled feni, under the guidance of his father, he has now taken it upon himself to sell these under Ouro de Goa brand.
“Our spiced feni is quite unique in terms of the flavour profile and smoothness,” Malkarnekar said, extending an invitation to all to come by his stall and try it.
Although it was quite early and the crowds hadn’t come in, Shruti Dhupkar, Assistant Agriculture Officer, Ella Farm, was seen explaining to those who stopped by the stall set up by the Goa Directorate of Agriculture that featured different grades of cashew and other value-added products like cashew wine, cashew syrup, cashew feni, cashew ladoos and some unique coasters made of dry powered cashew pulp and the edible cashew bar.
“We especially want to promote the cultivation of cashew. So here we have displayed all the cultivation practices and the varieties grown in Goa,” Dhupkar pointed out.
Agreeing that there has been less production of cashew this season, Dhupkar hopes that their stall motivates farmers who would get a glimpse of cashew cultivation. She added about the subsidiaries and financial assistance in terms of support price for cashews provided by the department so that farmers don’t go in loss.
As the fest concludes on Sunday, there is no doubt the government will harp on how successful the fest was. Those in the industry hope the government will also take note of the current challenges faced by the industry in Goa.